‘Reckless’ MP was too drunk to vote on budget debate
A Tory MP by the name of Mark Reckless was so drunk on the night of Tuesday 6th July that he was unable to cast a vote on an important budget debate, which he would have casted at 2:07 in the morning. Mr Reckless was elected as the Conservative MP for Rochester and Strood after the general election on May 6th and is also a lawyer and a former banker. While most workers in Britain are not generally not permitted to drink alcohol while they are at work, Reckless claimed that he usually only had ‘one or two’ drinks and was ‘very embarrassed’ by his behaviour, which apparently included slamming a door with his toe and becoming so drunk that he was falling onto the floor. During the course of the night, Reckless intoxicated himself at the Parliament bar and some fellow witnesses reported that he had fallen asleep on the parliament terrace overlooking the Thames, although he denied such claims. Other MPS were also said to be drinking in similar quantities while ‘hanging out’ on the luxury terrace as they were waiting to cast their votes.
The vote was in regards to ‘savage’ cuts and VAT increases which were introduced by the Chancellor and Tory financial adviser, George Osborne in June. It is quite unusual for parliamentary debates to continue into the early hours and some politicians have recently campaigned to make parliament more ‘family-friendly’ by reducing late night voting sessions and allowing MPs to spend more time with their loved ones. The debate was one of the readings associated with the new budget, which has involves the toughest, most radical cuts in public spending seen in Britain for a many decades.
Mark Reckless insisted that he had ‘learnt his lesson’ and that he will never consume alcohol at parliament again. Of course, many members of the British public have been shocked to find that their elected politicians are allowed to drink alcohol at parliament at all – at least while they are supposedly still on duty! The incident may be a blow to Cameron’s Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government, which is already facing increasing scrutiny as a result of the new public spending cuts that have been introduced.
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